Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo (Surniculus dicruroides)
About the Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo
The fork-tailed drongo-cuckoo (Surniculus dicruroides) is a species of cuckoo that resembles the Black drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus). It is found mainly in hill forests in peninsular India and Sri Lanka although some specimens are known from the Himalayan foothills. It can be identified by its metallic black plumage, straight beak, white barred vent, forked tail and white spot on the back of the head. The fork-tailed drongo-cuckoo's song has been described as a series of 5 or 6 whistling "pip-pip-pip-pip-pip-" notes rising in pitch with each "pip". They are also known for their drongo-like calls such as "quip" calls in flight and "wheep-wheep" call with a higher second note. In Sri Lanka, the fork-tailed drongo-cuckoo also has similar calls to the Sri Lanka Drongo (Dicrurus lophorinus).
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 61 recordings for this species: 35 CC BY-NC-SA · 23 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in India, Sri Lanka in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Square-tailed Drongo-CuckooSurniculus lugubrisrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.